Webber ready for Malaysia

After his hero's drive to fifth in Australia, scoring Minardi's first points in two years, Mark Webber is now looking forward to his first drive at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia. The 25 year old Australian, who bought the Melbourne crowd to hysteria in the season opener nearly two weeks ago, visited Sepang for the first time last year as Benetton test driver. He has not yet raced at the circuit, which is one of only three F1 tracks the Aussi has never raced on competitively in junior categories or sportscars; the other two being Montreal and Indianapolis.

"I always look forward to racing on new tracks for the first time and Sepang looks like a great one," said Webber. "Traditionally, this race is very hot in terms of temperatures and I think we're expecting somewhere between 32-36C over the weekend so it's going to be very tough and demanding. It would be great to bring the car home again but we're certainly not looking to rest on our laurels from Melbourne. We will be working extremely hard to ensure we've got the best possible package for the race and I'd like to think we could be looking for a top 12 finish."

Webber, like most other drivers, has been acclimatising himself for Malaysia -- in his case he chose the tropical atmosphere of northern Queensland in Australia to work on his fitness. But is was not all work, he took time out to visit the Great Barrier Reef. "I had a really enjoyable trip up there," he said. "I'd never been there before and it was great to go snorkeling on the reef and come face to face with the stunning marine life. The water was just like an enormous bath!"

The Australian dismissed reports that he was suffering a back injury after his drive in the Australian Grand Prix, saying: "Unfortunately I mentioned to a journalist that I had a bit of niggle in my back and it all got blown out of proportion! That was a good, first lesson for me in dealing with the press now I'm in Formula One! My back is fine and we're just trying to make the seat a bit more comfortable for me although that's unlikely to happen until Brazil."